Iran-backed Hizbullah strikes Israel from Lebanon

World Tribune.com, Middle East Newsline:

Israel's military and Hizbullah have engaged in their heaviest clash in 2005. The two sides exchanged shelling and rocket salvos over the weekend along the Israeli-Lebanese border. On May 13, the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah attacked Israeli military positions in the Shebaa Plateau, followed by Israeli artillery and rocket fire against strongholds of the insurgency group in southern Lebanon. READ MORE

"What is most important at this stage is that there is a government in Beirut, and Lebanon is obliged by the United Nations not to allow Hizbullah or other terror organizations to act," the Israeli military's Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz said. "If we have to respond we will respond."

Military sources said Hizbullah opened with a barrage of 15 shells and rockets at Israeli border positions on May 13. They said Israeli artillery batteries and attack helicopters responded with about 45 shells and rockets toward the Lebanese village of Kfar Shuba and destroyed four Hizbullah positions.

"IAF fighter planes and helicopters attacked three Hizbullah organization firing positions in the Har Dov [Shebaa] area," an Israeli military statement said on Saturday. "Israel Defense Forces units returned shell fire at an additional Hizbullah post in the central region, north of the Israeli town of Dovav. The forces reported accurate hits of the targets."

Hizbullah said the artillery attacks were in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Earlier, Israel was struck by two Katyusha rockets.

"The Islamic Resistance warns the Zionist enemy that any attack on civilians will be met with the appropriate response," Hizbullah said in a statement.

On Saturday, neither Israel nor Hizbullah reported any fighting along the Lebanese border. But Israeli military sources said Hizbullah could resume the shelling in an attempt to stop Lebanese elections scheduled to begin on May 29.

The United States expressed concern over the escalation in tension along the Israeli-Lebanese border. The State Department reiterated its call for Hizbullah and other militias in Lebanon to disarm.

"This is an especially sensitive and critical time for the Lebanese people, who will be voting in parliamentary elections beginning on May 29th," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on May 13. "This opportunity for reaffirming democracy in Lebanon must not be undermined by militias pursuing their own agendas."

In an unrelated development, Palestinian officials said Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas was scheduled to meet U.S. President George Bush in Washington on May 26. They said Abbas would arrive in Washington on May 24.